Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling’s (薛凌) husband, Sunny Bank chairman Chen Shen-hung (陳勝宏), was sentenced to three years and two months in prison by the Taiwan High Court yesterday for involvement in a loan scandal at Sunny Bank.
Hsueh was found not guilty in the same ruling.
Hsueh, Chen, Hsueh’s brother Hsueh Tsung-hsien (薛宗賢), Sunny Bank official Ho Ming-lung (何明龍) and Chen Yi-yuan (陳益源) were indicted over violations of the Banking Act (銀行法) and forgery in August 2007.
Hsueh Ling and Chen Shen-hung were found not guilty by the Shih-lin District Court in the first trial, but in the second ruling yesterday, the High Court said that as the bank’s chairman, Chen must have known the loan of more than NT$4 million (US$136,933) he authorized was questionable
The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence that Hsueh Ling was involved in the process.
Chen Shen-hung was sentenced to three years and two months in prison and was fined NT$3.2 million by the High Court.
Hsueh Tsung-hsien and Sunny Bank officials Ho and Chen Yi-yuan were all sentenced to four years in prison.
Ho and Chen Yi-yuan were fined NT$4 million, while Hsueh Tsung-hsien was fined NT$5 million.
The High Court ruling said the defendants as well as the prosecutors could appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Prosecutors charged that in 2002, Sunny Bank official Ho and Chen Yi-yuan told Hsueh Tsung-hsien that the Chinese-language Chunghwa Daily newspaper was selling a building in Taipei for about NT$400 million and urged him to buy the property.
Prosecutors say Hsueh Tsung-hsien then bought the building and forged the contract, raising the sale price to NT$500 million, and took the forged contract to Sunny Bank to request a loan of more than NT$4 million against the deal.
Prosecutors argued that Hsueh Ling, her husband and two of his close assistants, Ho and Chen Yi-yuan, all knew the contract was forged and that they conspired to authorize the loan.
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